Decluttering -- can I really be having fun??? Part 2

Today I took six boxes of stuff to a consignment shop -- and did not come back with anything new. They took everything but about 6 items. Fantastic to me!!!!!! I even let go of a punch bowl set that I had bought in 1986 as a preteen. I don't know why I bought it then (at Woolworth and with my saved allowance money), but maybe it was something that I cherished and that made me feel more "grown up" to own -- sounds crazy but that's the only thing I can remotely think of. Like owning it really made me any different. I've used it since then, but not recently, and I have punch cups that go with my vintage party tray sets. I don't need it to tell me that I am all grown up now (my two munchkins do that quite well, thank you!) so.... off it went.

I called a collectibles place in town to see how interested he was in our vintage Fisher Price toys. He wants to see them, and seemed quite interested, so now I just need to find a date to take those down to him. I'm hoping maybe he will want the NASCAR collectibles that D is ready to part with. If we can clear those three categories of items out, I will have "reclaimed" (that's how my mom terms it) about 28 cubic feet in our house -- at least 12 for the stuff gone to the consignment shop, 6 for the vintage Fisher Price (maybe more), and about 10 for the NASCAR stuff.

In addition to all that (yes, we have been working hard to get things organized), we have placed all the outgrown or not needed kids' stuff in an area to price and "unload" at the kids' preschool consignment sale. If it bugs me too much before then I will take it to the consignment shop or the kids resale clothing place just to clear it out. At present, that pile is (no joke) filling up the room underneath a curved staircase in addition to a 5x3 area in our basement. Maybe another 60 cubic feet????? You know, the smaller the child, the bigger the equipment -- why is that?

Then there are some items that are going to be Freecycled. Things like collectors tins, gardening chemicals (not keeping these around since I have little ones!!!!), mismatched glassware, craft supplies, etc. I think I honestly have three or so paper ream boxes of those tins to get rid of...... and a big bag of fabric/yarn...